PC

Let it be known that I'm a sucker for media that pushes the envelope. I like things that challenge and manipulate my expectations—I genuinely enjoyed studying and discussing language (or L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E) poetry, despite not actually enjoying reading it, I found the footnotes in House of Leaves hilarious and brilliant, and I enjoyed the mind-bending exercise that was Primer.

MOUNTAIN, David O'Reilly's (the creator of the foul-mouthed robot game in Her, as well as the writer and director of the Adventure Time episode 'A Glitch is a Glitch') foray into the world of gaming, is kind of like that. This is the kind of game that a certain type of reviewer loves, the type that causes heated debates over what 'game' means.

Without spoiling too much, Drew and the Floating Labyrinth is a game about loss. Loss of home, loss of self, and, to a degree, loss of innocence. The titular character hops from block to block, following clues in colors, shadows, and two-dimensional projections to her home, which is always just barely visible in the distance. It's a platformer—probably my least favorite genre—but the unique hand-drawn animation in a three-dimensional setting and the promise of story to come kept me playing despite my dislike for the genre.